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This is not an official version. POINT IN TIME |
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| December 18, 2008 to September 30, 2009 |
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Repealed on October 1, 2009 RSNL1990 CHAPTER V-6 VITAL STATISTICS ACT Amended: 1996 cF-6.1 s30; 1996 cR-10.1 s78; 2001 cN-3.1 s2); 2004 cC-5.1 s17; 2004 c47 s36; 2006 c35; 2008 c47 s19 CHAPTER V-6 AN ACT RESPECTING THE REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS
Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Vital Statistics Act. Registration
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(1) All births, marriages and deaths that take place within this province shall be registered in a public register to be kept in the city of (2) The register shall be kept in a place of safety, to be approved by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. Registrar General 3. There shall be a chief officer appointed to carry out this Act, to be called the Registrar General, who shall have charge of the public registry. Clergy to keep registers 4. (1) Members of the clergy and other persons baptizing, celebrating marriage or performing funeral services in this province shall keep an accurate register of all persons whom he or she has baptized, married or buried. (2) The register of baptism referred to in subsection (1) shall state the day of the birth of the person baptized. (3) The member of the clergy or other person shall transmit, quarterly, a correct copy of the registers of baptisms and burials to the Registrar General. Notice to registering officers 5. Notices of all births, marriages and deaths that take place in this province shall be given within the times provided in section 7 to a registering officer appointed under this Act. Registering officers 6. (1) All clergy and other persons legally licensed to baptize, celebrate marriage, or perform funeral services in this province shall be "registering officers", and the limits of their duties under this Act shall be the same as those assigned them by ecclesiastical authority.
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Registering officers living in the City of Returns to be sent to Registrar General 7. (1) The registering officers shall forward, quarterly, to the Registrar General a copy of the registers kept by them of all births and deaths of which they have received notice from the date of their last report to the Registrar General. (2) The report sent to the Registrar General shall (a) be accompanied with a remittance of 1/2 of all fines imposed under this Act collected by the registering officers; and (b) specify other information respecting the births and deaths that is required by this Act. Substitution for registering officers 8. When (a) there has not been a registering officer empowered by section 6, for a period of 4 months; or (b) the registering officer has failed to comply with section 7 for a period of 4 months, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint an appropriate person to perform the duties of registering officer, and that person shall have, for the purpose of the registers required to be kept by this Act, the same rights of access, inspection and custody as might have been exercised by the registering officer by whom the registers may have been kept. Registrar General to keep register 9. The Registrar General shall (a) collect and keep a full and correct alphabetical registry of all births, marriages and deaths that take place within the province; (b) file and keep copies of the registers received by him or her; and (c) provide to the Legislature an annual report of all matters and things relating to the affairs of his or her office, together with an account of the fees and fines collected under this Act. Information of births 10. (1) Information concerning a birth of a child shall be provided in the form established by the minister for that purpose and shall be delivered or mailed to the registrar within 48 hours of the birth (a) by the medical practitioner, or person who assumes responsibility for the delivery of the child; and (b) where more than one child is born, in a separate statement completed for each child which shall include the number of children born, their birth order, and the given name and surname for each child. (2) To register the birth of a child, both parents, only one parent where the other is unwilling or unable to act, or the person who in fact has custody of the child where neither parent is willing or able to act, shall within 30 days of the birth of a child, complete and deliver or mail to the registrar a statement in the form required by the minister which shall include the given name and surname of the child. (3) Where no man acknowledges himself to be the father, or the mother does not acknowledge that man as the father, the mother alone shall sign the statement. (4) Within 90 days of receiving notification of a birth under subsection (1), the registrar may (a) where no statement has been received requesting registration under subsection (2), register the information provided under subsection (1); and (b) where a statement is completed by only one parent or by a person who is not the child's parent, amend the statement on the application of (i) both parents, (ii) the mother, where the father is incapable or unwilling to act, or the father, where the mother is unable or unwilling to act, or (iii) the mother where the father is unacknowledged by or unknown to the mother. Certificate of registry of birth 11. Either of the parents, or the guardian, or other person, who may have procured the registry of the birth of a child, shall be entitled to receive from the registering officer a certificate of that registry upon payment of a fee of $0.50. Mother unmarried 12. (1) Where a woman gives birth to a child and the father is a person to whom she is not married, a person shall not be registered as the father of the child unless the mother and the person acknowledging himself to be the father jointly request it. (2) Where a man and woman do not request registration under subsection (1), the birth of the child shall be registered under section 10. Information of deaths 13. (1) When a death takes place in this province, information of the death shall be provided within 48 hours to the proper officer appointed under this Act to receive the information, in the form in Schedule A, and to the Chief Medical Examiner for deaths reportable under the Fatalities Investigations Act. (2) The obligation to provide the information referred to in subsection (1) shall rest, in the first instance, on the medical attendant, secondly, on the undertaker, and, failing these, on the next of kin to the deceased person. (2.1) The minister may approve other persons who may provide information referred to in subsection (1). (3) A person who fails to comply with subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not exceeding $10. (4) Where a death occurs from accident, or under circumstances which render inquiry into the cause of death desirable or necessary, the court or person before or by whom the inquiry has been held, shall provide to the registering officer of the place in which the deceased person is to be interred, a certificate stating the cause of death, that was determined at the inquiry. (5) Where a person dies in hospital under circumstances which do not render an inquiry necessary, the resident physician or chief officer in charge of the hospital shall provide a certificate stating the cause of death to the registering officer of the place in which the deceased person is to be interred. RSN1970 c329 s13; 1995 cF-6.1 s30; 1996 cR-10.1 s78; 2004 c47 s36 Certificate of death by medical attendant, etc. 14. (1) On receiving information of a death, the registering officer may provide a written statement setting out the date and place of death, the name, age and sex of the deceased, and the cause of death, as nearly as can be ascertained and cause it to be signed by the medical attendant or undertaker, or, failing these, by some other credible person who witnessed the death, or identified the body after death. (2) The registering officer shall, where requested, issue to the person entitled to receive it a certificate setting out the facts referred to in subsection (2) for which a certificate a fee of $0.50 shall be charged. Sextons, etc., not to bury without certificate of death 15. A sexton or other person having charge of a cemetery or burial place, shall not permit the burial of a person in the cemetery, or burial place without first having received a certificate signed by a medical attendant, a member of the clergy, or 2 reliable persons cognizant of the facts, certifying to the death of the person for whom burial is required, and setting out, so far as is known the cause of death and the certificates shall be forwarded monthly to the registering officers concerned. Rep. by 1996 cR-10.1 s78 16. [Rep. by 1996 cR-10.1 s78] Duties of Registrar General 17. The Registrar General, or other registering officer, shall use every available means to obtain a full and accurate account of all births, marriages and deaths that take place in the province, and shall provide a notice in the form of Schedule B in all cases where he or she has reason to believe that the necessary information has not been supplied to him or her. Registration in certain cases 18. The minister may register, in a registry to be kept for that purpose, the birth or death of a person who was born, or died, in, or outside, the province where the minister is satisfied that it is desirable to do so. Proof 19. A person wishing to register or change information related to his or her birth, sex or marriage, or a person standing instead of a parent to a child wishing to register that child's birth, shall submit proof or supporting documents as may be required by the minister. Certificate 20. A person who has procured the registry of his or her birth under section 18 shall be entitled to receive from the Minister of Health or the person that may be appointed by him or her for that purpose a certificate of that registry as if the person were born in the province and his or her birth was registered in accordance with another section of this Act and that registration and certificate shall have the same effect. RSN1970 c329 s20; 1973 No39 Sch C; 1975 No31 s7 Prior registrations 21. The registrations made before the passing of this Act are hereby declared as valid and binding as if they had been made thereunder. Fees for registering officers 22. (1) A registering officer who, in accordance with section 7, forwards to the Registrar General extracts from the registers kept by the registering officer of births and deaths occurring in his or her locality is entitled to be paid a fee for events registered and forwarded. (2) The minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to administer this Act may set the fees payable and the time and manner of their payment to a registering officer under subsection (1). Penalty for false statement 23. A person who makes, for the purpose of being inserted in a register of births, marriages or deaths a false statement concerning the particulars required to be registered, or who alters or defaces a return or register, shall be subject to the same penalties as if that person were guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury. Penalty for publication in newspapers of false statement 24. A person who sends to a newspaper publisher or other person, for publication in a newspaper in this province, a fictitious or false statement of the marriage or death of a person, or the birth of a child, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine or imprisonment at the discretion of the Trial Division. RSN1970 c329 s24; 1986 c42 Sch A Penalty on proprietor, etc., of newspaper 25. Every proprietor, editor or publisher of a newspaper published in this province, who knowingly and wilfully publishes a fictitious or false statement of the marriage or death of a person, or of the birth of a child, is guilty of an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine or imprisonment at the discretion of the Trial Division. RSN1970 c329 s25; 1986 c42 Sch A Extract from registry 26. (1) A person during office hours, upon payment of fees prescribed under subsection (2), (a) may have reference to the registers; and (b) may obtain a certified extract or a confirmation of records from a registry but clergy, doctors, solicitors, members of the Legislature and public officers may have reference to the registers at no charge. (2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations (a) prescribing the conditions under which a person may have reference to the registers or may obtain from the registers a certified extract or confirmation of records; and (b) [Rep. by 2008 c47 s19]. 1977 c101 s1; 2008 c47 s19 Certificates from registry 27. (1) Certificates of births, marriages and deaths shall be exact copies of the registers, and shall be signed and certified by the registering officers. (2) A certificate issued under this Act under the signature of the Registrar General is valid notwithstanding the person whose signature appears on the certificate is no longer the Registrar General on the date the certificate is issued. RSN1970 c329 s28; 2008 c47 s19 Release of information
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Notwithstanding section 26, the registrar may release information, including personal information as defined in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
, to the Schedule A No. .......... Electoral District of ..........................,
(a) .................. 19.... Notice is given that the death took place at (b) , on the (c) day of ................. 19...., of (d), aged .............. years, (married or single) as far as could be ascertained. (e) ......................... (f) ......................... Witness ........................ (a) Name of place, day of month and year. (b) Name of place where death occurred. (c) Day of month and year when death occurred. (d) Name in full of deceased person. (e) Name of person giving this notice. (f) Address of person giving this notice. RSN1970 c329 Sch A; 2001 cN-3.1 s2
Schedule B No. .......... Electoral District of ..........................., (a) ......................... 19 .... Hearing that a birth (marriage or death ) has recently occurred in your house (or family ), it is my duty to call your attention to the provisions of the Vital Statistics Act . An extract is attached, in order that you may be prepared to conform to the requirements of the and avoid the penalties for a breach of the Act. To (b) ........................
...................................... (a) Name of place, day of month and year. (b) Name and address of person to whom notice is sent. RSN1970 c329 Sch B; 2001 cN-3.1 s2 ©Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer |